Golden State reportedly contacted New Orleans multiple times with a Trey Murphy III package centered on two first-round picks. The Pelicans reportedly wanted three firsts plus a young player they valued for their core. The Warriors were not one sweetener short. They were missing two separate parts of the price: another first and the right young player.
A third pick would have closed the pick gap. It would not have supplied the player New Orleans wanted. Golden State could have useful draft capital and still lack the specific asset mix required for Murphy.
The Kuminga move changed the package
An earlier reported Warriors proposal included Jonathan Kuminga, an unprotected 2026 first-round pick and a softly protected 2028 first-round pick. It did not produce a trade, so there is no basis for claiming New Orleans would have accepted it.
Golden State later sent Kuminga and Buddy Hield to Atlanta for Kristaps Porzingis. The young player from that earlier proposal was no longer available, and the latest two-pick-centered approach reportedly lacked the young-player component the Pelicans sought.
The Warriors also kept the No. 11 pick and drafted Yaxel Lendeborg, converting the selection into a rookie prospect. There is no basis for assuming New Orleans viewed Lendeborg as the young core player it wanted.
Those decisions may still carry value for Golden State. They simply left the Warriors poorly matched to New Orleans’ reported demands. The failed Murphy pursuit does not prove Golden State cannot make any meaningful trade around Stephen Curry. It shows that picks alone could not complete this deal after the Warriors had changed the part of their inventory that might have addressed the other half of the price.